Health – What’s the Best Way to Quit Tobacco?

We recently unveiled a brand new infographic that showcases compiled research on various smoking cessation methods. If you are trying to stop smoking and you can’t decide which method to use, this information graphic will break down all of your options and show you what has worked best to help other smokers quit over a six-month period. Using research from half a dozen studies, we discovered that e-cigarettes were by far the most effective tool for smokers that were trying to give up tobacco.

Research showed that nicotine gum was the least effective option with just 8.4% of smokers successfully giving up their cigarettes after six months. The nicotine patch was not a whole lot better, with only 9.2% of smokers finding success with that method. The nicotine lozenge was the third method that was studied. It works a lot like nicotine gum, where you suck on the lozenge and it released nicotine into your bloodstream. Some people like it better because it is less likely to irritate the stomach. Still, only 9.8% of smokers were able to quit with the lozenges, so it’s not the most promising choice.

Nicotine inhalers were another method studied and they did perform better than patches, lozenges, and gum. But ultimately, the inhaler only worked for 13% of smokers. Prescription medicine showed some promising results. Drugs like Chantix and Bupropion are available by prescription only, but 21% of smokers are able to quit within six months using these medications. Unfortunately, they do come with some scary side effects and they are not a good fit for many smokers. Giving up cigarettes cold turkey offered a similar success rate at 22% and that is much less expensive than months of prescription medications.

Of all the methods studied, nothing was more effective than e-cigarettes. By switching to ecigs, 31% of smokers were able to stop using tobacco within 6 months. Ultimately, this infographic is just one more way that of educating smokers about their options.